Fullmetal Alchemist: The Second World War
by Cdc100
Summary: Ed, Al, and their friends are transported to Earth, where they help the Allies defeat the Nazis. Prominent historical figures also appear. EdWin, RoyRiza, slight EdRose.
1. Prologue

"Fullmetal Alchemist: The Second World War"

By cdc100

Summary: Edward, Alphonse and their friends are transported to Earth and help the Allies defeat the Nazis and the Axis Powers. They also meet prominent figures like President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Claus von Stauffenberg. EdWin, slight EdRose

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure non-profit fan fiction. I do not own any of the characters, their weapons, their abilities, or any of their universes, nor do I own any of the lyrics that will appear in later chapters, or any of the products mentioned in the story such as Coca-Cola, or Playstation.

Prologue

In a world very similar to ours, science evolved differently than it did on Earth. In this world, called Amestris, the ultimate science is that of alchemy. Using alchemy, its practitioners can create new things, provided that what is created has the same mass or chemical properties as the materials used. Alchemists can even use it to turn lead into gold. To the average person, alchemy may sound like the ideal science. But the reality is, everything comes at a price, particularly in alchemy. "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost." That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. One of the worst crimes you can commit in terms of alchemy is human transmutation, the act of trying to modify a human being, create human life, or bring a person back to life. For this, there is a high price to pay.

Amestris is dominated by a military power. This military was once greatly disliked by the people of Amestris; Hated because of a war that broke out in a faraway country called Ishbal. The military came to Ishbal and introduced the science of alchemy to its people. The military was considered evil by the Ishbalans, because their God, Ishbala, forbade alchemy. One day, things got out of hand between the military and the Ishbalans, and one of the soldiers shot an Ishbalan child. This sparked the war with Ishbal… at least, according to military records.

It is true. An Ishbalan child was shot, but this was a shooting orchestrated by the Fuhrer. The Fuhrer is the ruler of the country and the head of the state military. The Fuhrer ordered a soldier to shoot an Ishbalan child in order to start the war between Amestris and Ishbal. The Fuhrer was secretly planning to use the human lives taken in the war to create the most sought-after alchemical object, the Philosopher's Stone.

The Philosopher's Stone is a pure substance, an amplifier that can be used in alchemic transmutation. With the stone, alchemists can choose not to obey the laws of equivalent exchange, making the impossible possible. It is a blood-red stone, said to bring happiness in sadness, victory in war, and life in death. For this reason, alchemists saw fit to give it such a name as the Philosopher's Stone.

Anyway, in secret, the Fuhrer was a homunculus. Homunculi are created when a person tries to transmute a human being. The homunculus then takes the form of the human being that the alchemist was trying to bring back, and are weakened by being near the remains of that person. The Fuhrer and the homunculi sought the Philosopher's Stone in hopes of making them human.

However, the Fuhrer wasn't the reason for the homunculi's pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone. They were rallied altogether by an old woman- emphasis on "old." She kept herself alive by transferring herself from one body to another for four hundred years. It was she who rallied the Homunculi together to search for the stone. In fact, without her, they wouldn't have been in the shape for such a search. In exchange for their help, she promised them that she would use the stone to make them human.

The state military has alchemists in their ranks, called "State Alchemists." They report directly to the Fuhrer. One such alchemist was a boy named Edward Elric. Edward was famous because he joined the state military as a State Alchemist when he was only 12 years old. He was also famous for representing the best interests of the people when the military would not. It was he and his brother who stopped the Fuhrer and the rest of the Homunculi from achieving their goal. He was a great alchemist, but not because he became one when he was so young, but because he paid the ultimate price. He and his brother Alphonse tried to transmute the body of their late mother, Trisha. For their sin, Edward lost his left leg while Alphonse lost his entire body. Edward then used his right arm as material in a transmutation in order to bind Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor in their house. It was this mistake that drove Edward to join the state military in order to get funding to search for the Philosopher's Stone. In order for Ed to go on his journey, he had his neighbors fit him with full metal prosthetic limbs. When an alchemist is taken into the military, they are given a symbolic second name, which signifies their attributes or talents. It was because of Edward Elric's mechanical limbs that the state military saw fit to name him, "The Fullmetal Alchemist."


	2. Resembool and the Uranium Bomb

"Fullmetal Alchemist: The Second World War"

By cdc100

Summary: Edward, Alphonse and their friends are transported to Earth and help the Allies defeat the Nazis and the Axis Powers.

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure non-profit fan fiction. I do not own any of the characters, their weapons, their abilities, or any of their universes, nor do I own any of the lyrics that will appear in later chapters, or any of the products mentioned in the story such as Coca-Cola, or Playstation.

Chapter One

"Resembool and the Uranium Bomb"

In the rural area of Amestris, in a small town called Resembool, two young boys were making their way toward the entrance of a house that had a sign in front of it, which said "Rockbell's Automail." Both boys had blond hair. One, who looked to be the oldest, had long bangs, a long, braided ponytail, and golden brown eyes. He was wearing a long brown trenchcoat and white gloves. The second boy had had darker hair, tied back in a ponytail, shorter bangs, brown eyes, and a black jacket and pants with a red hooded cloak and white gloves.

The younger boy walked until he was about twenty-five feet form the door, and stopped.

"Hey, Edward."

The older boy stopped walking.

"Yeah, Alphonse?"

"Aren't you wondering how Aunt Pinako and Winry will react?"

Edward scoffed.

"Is that a trick question?"

Edward took a few more steps toward the door and looked back at Alphonse.

"I just hope that Winry doesn't throw that torque wrench like the last three times we came home."

"We've been gone for a long time. I think she's matured past that by now."

Edward chuckled.

"I hope so. I've still got a bruise from the last one."

It was Alphonse's turn to chuckle.

"Okay, Ed. Now I _know_ you're exaggerating."

Alphonse walked ahead of Ed, and knocked on the door. Ed walked off to the side of the steps and leaned against the railing. Moments after Alphonse knocked, the door opened, revealing a small, old lady with her hair tied back into a narrow bun. She had a pipe between her teeth, but there was no smoke. She looked up at Alphonse.

"Al? What a pleasant surprise!"

Just then, Al could hear pounding on the stairs, and knew that Winry was coming down. There she stood, the beautiful blonde girl in her usual worker's outfit with her trademark wrench in hand.

"After what happened at Central, we didn't expect you to come back."

Al shrugged.

"It took a lot of thinking, but we found a way back."

Winry looked puzzled.

"'We'?"'

Al gestured over his shoulder to his brother, who was still leaning against the rail.

Ed turned his head to look at his family friends.

"E… Edward?" asked Winry.

"Hey, Winry, Granny." said Ed, leaving the railing and coming up the steps. "Long time no see."

As Ed stood in front of Winry, he saw that he was now just a little bit taller than she was.

"Edward…" said Winry.

"Yeah, Winry…?" asked Ed.

The answer that Ed got was a big hug from Winry.

"I never thought I'd see Alphonse again, Edward. Least of all, you."

"Well… I'm back now, Winry."

Ed let out a small groan when Winry released his right arm from her grip.

"What is it, Ed?" asked Winry.

"My arm… it was damaged a little on the way back here. One of the screws got stripped when I was fighting, and now my elbow's joint is all messed up."

Winry grinned a bit.

"Come on inside, Ed. We'll get you fixed up."

"And after that, we can eat," said Pinako.

Ed walked inside and set his briefcase next to the door. He then took off his traveling coat and set it on a coat rack. He took off his gloves and put them in his pockets. Winry turned around and noticed that Ed was wearing a flesh-toned glove on his right hand.

"Ed? What is that on your hand?"

"What?"

"You're wearing a glove on your right hand."

"Oh. I used to wear it all the time when I had those rocket-propelled prosthetic attachments. I thought people might be a little freaked out by my arm. Prosthetics are still a fairly new concept on Earth."

"I guess we're more technologically advanced than I thought," said Winry.

Ed settled himself into a chair on one side of the room.

"I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere, Winry. Take as long as you need."

Winry shook her head.

"Once again, you forget who you're dealing with here, Ed."

Ed laughed.

"Yeah, I guess I have. You're the best automail mechanic there is."

Pinako came up to Ed and examined his left leg.

"Ed, how have you been walking? Your legs seem to have grown quite a bit while you were gone."

"Well, I haven't been able to adjust my leg, so I found some moldings to put on my feet. They evened my legs out. But it's been kind of hard walking with them."

"Well, we'll fix that."

When Ed's arm and leg had been removed for maintenance, Pinako gave him the same prosthetic he used to get around.

"Thanks for the replacement, auntie."

"No problem, kiddo. We'll have your arm and leg ready for you by tomorrow morning. In the meantime, why don't you sit down, and make yourself comfortable."

Ed stood from where he was sitting.

"I actually was hoping to stop by mom's grave. It'll probably only be for an hour or so."

"You just got back, Ed!" said Winry.

"I know. But her grave isn't in Germany, so…"

"Okay, okay," said Winry. "I get the picture. Just hurry back."

"Don't worry. I will."

Ed then grabbed his overcoat, and began walking the path to the Resembool Cemetery. On his way there, he began replaying the events of the past few years before they returned in his head.

* * *

As Ed and Al were riding in the back of the truck, they were planning on their next course of action.

"What are we going to do now, Ed?" asked Al.

"The first thing we have to do is find that uranium bomb and get rid of it. But we need to hurry," said Ed. "Even though the Putsch was a failure, I doubt that the German Polizei will be able to hold Hitler and his flunkies forever. If they get their hands on that bomb, all Hell will break loose."

"So, what's the plan?"

"I think the best place to start looking is Berlin. If somebody wanted to take a nuclear weapon to the government, it would only make sense to go to the nation's capital."

Al chuckled.

"You know, you certainly know a lot about this country."

"Well, that can happen when you practically live in it for two years."

After a few more hours, the truck came to a stop, and the other people that were in the back with Ed and Al had gotten off.

"Hey, kid," said the driver.

"Yes, sir?" asked Ed. He looked at the driver and who must have been his wife. He looked a lot like Scar, except without the X-shaped scar on his forehead, and she looked like Lust, but her skin wasn't so pale.

"This is where I stop."

"Wait. Uh… how far is Berlin?"

"It's north about twenty miles."

"Okay. If you take us there, we'll pay you, and compensate you for the gas."

The man scowled at first, but then let out a small grin.

"Deal."

With that, the man's wife got out of the truck and began walking up a driveway. As soon as she was a good distance away, the man stepped on the gas pedal, and they headed to Berlin.

"Do we really have enough for that?"

"Don't worry, Al. I emptied out my account before we left Munich."

Al nodded his head, and decided to change subjects.

"Hey, it just occurred to me. If the government somehow got ahold of that uranium bomb, then there's a good chance it'll be heavily guarded."

"Yeah?"

"Well, we normally fight using alchemy, and here, alchemy doesn't work. So, what are we gonna do if there comes a time when we have to fight?"

"I didn't actually think that far ahead, Al. But, you know, I think there might be a way to make alchemy work in this world."

"Hmm? How do you figure that?"

"Well, before I came back to Amestris, I found a transmutation circle on the floor of that building where you sent that suit of armor through. When I placed my hands on it, it activated."

"Really?"

"And when you think about it, it does make sense. Here, science is dominated by the laws of physics. Our world is dominated by the science of alchemy. And the laws of physics still apply in our world. Given that, how can we say that alchemy can't be used here? I mean, just because it may not work the same way doesn't mean it can't still apply."

"I see your point. Equivalent exchange. If alchemy and physics both work in our world, then there's no reason that both physics AND alchemy shouldn't work here."

"And just before we left Munich, I had a lead on how we could do just that…"

"Okay, I'll bite. What was it?"

"Long before our time, there was a man named Nicolas Flamel. He was born in 1330 and lived until the early 1400s."

"What does he have to do with alchemy?"

"I was getting to that. While he was alive, nobody knew much about him, but after he died, he gained recognition as an alchemist. Authorities discovered research notes in his study. That research was on creating the Philosopher's Stone. Now, authorities say that Flamel's research was a complete failure… It wasn't."

"How do you know?"

"I found some research papers in a museum in Munich. They were written by Flamel. Do you remember how alchemists write all of their notes in a special code?"

"Yeah. Like Dr. Marcoh's cook book?"

"Yeah. It took a bit of deciphering, but I was able to find what Flamel was hiding. His research confirms that making a Philosopher's Stone is possible, even though he has never made one himself."

"So you're saying…"

"If making a Philosopher's Stone is possible, it would be kind of backwards if alchemy wasn't also possible."

"Ed… do you still have those research papers?"

"Actually, before we left Munich, I turned them back in to the library. But before I did that, I copied down a few things that would be good for us to know."

"Could I see it?"

Ed fumbled through the pockets of his coat and drew out a long sheet of notes. He handed to Al, who took it in his hand and quickly began reading it.

After the next hour, the truck came to a stop.

"Here you are, kid. Welcome to Berlin."

Edward hopped off the back of the truck.

"Hey, Alphonse. Our stop's right here."

"Coming."

Al rolled up the paper and put it in his pocket. He then jumped out of the back with Ed, who made his way to the driver's side of the truck.

"Okay, sir. How much do we owe you?"

The man smiled.

"It's free of charge, kid."

"Are you kidding?" asked Ed, looking slightly taken aback.

"I heard some of the conversation you and your brother were having back there. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Look, sir. I know you're trying to be generous, but equivalent exchange is one of the principles I live by. If it's not to you I owe something today, it'll just be someone else tomorrow."

"Kid, look at the big picture. With the Treaty of Versailles and the German economy the way it is right now, how much difference is a couple hundred marks going to make?"

Edward frowned.

"A lot more difference than giving two complete strangers a ride free of charge."

The man frowned.

"Well, maybe so. Okay, I'll take your money, but I do so out of protest."

"So noted," answered Ed. "Where we're going, you could use it a lot more than we could, anyway."

The stranger let out a weak smile.

"Good luck to both of you."

The man backed his truck around, and went back the way he came.

"Good luck… Scar," said Ed, when he knew the driver was out of earshot.

He turned around, and gestured for Al to follow.

"So, what _did_ you do during the years you were gone, brother?"

"Not now, Al," said Ed.

"Well, I never had the chance to ask you before. And now that nobody's listening in, we have a good chance to talk about it."

Ed shrugged.

"I started working on rocketry with my father and a man named Dr. Olbert. He had an apprentice that looked like you, only he had blonde hair and blue eyes. His name was Alphonse Heidrich."

"Looked… like me?"

"Yeah. You'd never believe it, but I found tons of people that looked like people we know. I found a man who looked like Fuhrer Bradley, a woman that looked like Gracia Hughes, a man that looked like Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, a whole slew of lookyloos."

"Did you find anyone that looked like… her?" asked Al.

"Winry, you mean?" Ed looked downtrodden. "No. And even if I did, I doubt she would look exactly the same, or have the same personality."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, the truth is, the Maes Hughes that I met here was kind of a jerk. And the man that looked like the Fuhrer was the nicest man you'd ever meet."

"Well, so was the Fuhrer, before we found out he was a homunculus."

"True, but didn't you see how the owners of the truck that dropped us off here looked almost exactly like Scar and Lust, and yet they harbored no ill will against us?"

Al shrugged.

"I guess you got me there."

They walked a few more steps before Al asked yet another question.

"So, where do suggest we start looking for the bomb?"

"Do you know how much security the standard government building has at nighttime?"

"I'd say minimal, at best."

"We are going to take Flamel's research and study it until we get it right. If I'm right, it'll be just like when we were kids and we learned alchemy at the snap of a finger. When we get it right, _then_ we can start looking for the bomb. We'll look by nightfall. If we must do it by day, we'll do it on a low profile."

"Okay. Let's find some place to stay."

With that, they set off looking for an inn.

To Be Continued…


	3. Their Research Begins

"Fullmetal Alchemist: The Second World War"

By cdc100

Summary: Edward, Alphonse and their friends are transported to Earth and help the Allies defeat the Nazis and the Axis Powers.

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure non-profit fan fiction. I do not own any of the characters, their weapons, their abilities, or any of their universes, nor do I own any of the lyrics that will appear in later chapters, or any of the products mentioned in the story such as Coca-Cola, or Playstation.

Chapter Two

"Their Research Begins"

Before sundown, the Elrics managed to find a hotel. Ed led the way inside and rang the bell at the front counter.

"Yes? May I help you?" asked a voice.

"Me and my brother are looking for a place to stay."

Steps could be heard coming from the back room behind the counter.

"How long do you think you'll need to stay here?" asked the man.

Ed turned to look at the stranger.

"Oh, quite a-" Ed recoiled. "While?"

"What's the matter, kid? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Ed looked at the concierge. He had spiky blond hair, sapphire eyes and was twice as tall as he was. For once, Ed wasn't preoccupied with the height of another person, but his face. It was the face of Lieutenant Jean Havoc.

"Hey…" said the Havoc lookalike. "I know you. You're that kid from Munich. You were working on rocketry with that kid, Alphonse Heidrich, right?"

"Yeah. That's right. I'm Edward Elric, and this is my brother, Alphonse."

Both brothers shook hands with the man.

"Mm. Good to meet you both. I'm Jean Wolfram."

"Anyway, back to business. Me and my brother need a room. We're going to be doing research, and odds are, it's going to take a while. And since renting a place is kind of out of the question…"

"I get the picture. How does… two hundred marks a night sound?"

"It seems kind of low," said Ed. "There some kind of catch?"

"No. You guys are sending Germany into a new age of engineering. You're practically a celebrity in this part of Berlin."

"Alright. Sounds like a fair deal."

"Good."

The Havoc lookalike extended his hand to Ed, who promptly shook it.

"Now, let me see…"

Jean began looking through the slots where he kept the keys to his rooms.

"Ah, here we are."

He took out a small, bronze-colored key and handed it to Ed.

"The number's engraved on the key. Let me know if you or your brother need anything else."

"Thank you very much for your accommodations, Mr. Wolfram," said Ed as he and his brother headed up the stairs.

The innkeeper chuckled.

"You can call me Jean. Hey, can I interest you guys in some dinner and a show tonight? We've got a famous opera singer coming in."

"No, that's fine, Jean. We'll most likely be too busy to really do anything other than research."

"Your loss…" said Jean, pulling out a cigarette and moving toward the door. He struck a match as he went outside.

When the two brothers got to the top of the stairs, they entered a long hallway. They proceeded slowly down the hall, scanning the numbers on the doors until they found the one that matched their key.

"Here it is, Ed. 225."

"Alright."

Ed took out the small key from his coat pocket, inserted it into the slot, and wasted no time in unlocking the door. When the door was open, he gestured for Al to go in first, and then followed him in.

Ed threw his suitcase and briefcase onto one of the beds, and took his jacket off. He then flexed his right arm and rolled up his right sleeve.

"How's the automail treating you, brother?"

"Just needs oiled," said Ed, pulling out a small flask. He applied oil to the joints of his wrist, elbow and shoulder. When he was done, he examined the flask, and was reminded of the person who gave it to him: Winry Rockbell, his childhood friend back in Resembool, where he and his brother lived.

"Something wrong, brother?"

"Just spacing off, Al. But we don't have time for anymore of that. Let's get to work."

He picked up his briefcase off the bed, and opened it on the desk in the corner. He flipped the clasps of the rim, and opened the case. He then pulled out what looked like a list.

"What is that, Ed?"

"It's a list of some works I'm thinking of checking out. I hear that the Berlin library has a lot of books to look at."

Al picked up the list and looked at it.

"Interesting selection. Want to see a book I picked out?"

"Sure."

Al handed the book to his brother.

"Let's see here… _Who was Paracelsus?_ This is on alchemy?

"Yeah, I actually thought that you should have a look at this one.

"Why is that?"

"Trust me. You'll see. I found it on a park bench back in Munich. Apparently, somebody picked it up from the library here in Berlin, and forgot to check it back in.

He began rummaging through his briefcase and pulled out a small book.

"Here it is.

Al flipped through the pages, and suddenly stopped at the page he was looking for. On the upper right-hand corner of the page was an illustration of Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man drawing. Al pointed to the second paragraph of the page on the right.

"Take a look."

Ed took the book from Al and put his hand to his mouth. As he read, he absorbed the scraps of information that the book emitted. Apparently, Paracelsus was a very famous alchemist. He lived in the fifteenth century and had been credited with creating a homunculus. He stopped when he saw Paracelsus's real name.

"Phillip Von… Hohenheim?" he gasped. He re-read the entire passage, noticing that their father had done all of this.

"OUR DAD WAS PARACELSUS?!" asked Ed.

"Yeah. That was my reaction, too," said Al. "Apparently, he had quite the following before he came to Amestris. I figure, he must have found an easy way of getting back to Amestris."

"It's a good pick, Al, but before we work on getting back, we need to dispose of that uranium bomb."

"I know that. I just thought that if we could get some insight on getting back to Amestris, that would be good, too."

Ed shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

He let a sigh escape his lips.

"Man… there's so much to do, and I have no idea where to start."

"Why don't we just start from the beginning? The ABC's of alchemy, alchemy 101, whatever you want to call it."

Ed nodded.

"I don't suppose you brought a copy of that book we used, did you?"

Al smirked and pulled the book from his cloak pocket.

"I never leave home without it."

"Good. And I saved Dr. Marcoh's research, and I have a cram sheet with Flamel's notes on them. Let's get to work, Al."

"Right," replied the younger brother.

Al and Ed put the notes on the floor, and scattered them so that they didn't have to flip through them in order to find what they were looking for.

As they read, they found their alchemic teachings refreshing themselves in their minds; from equivalent exchange down to the simplest transmutation. Ed looked at some of the raw materials on the lists within the texts. He understood now why transmutation was so complicated in this world. All he needed to do now was find a way to make it simpler. He had his mind made up. He would find out what was needed to pull off a transmutation, and he would perfect it; master it. As every young man striving for something knows, "Practice makes perfect."

He read more of the texts that were in front of him. After finishing a paragraph, he looked at his watch.

_12:00 midnight? Impossible._

But his doubt was quelled when a yawn came from his mouth.

"Brother?"

"What is it, Al?"

"I heard you yawn. If you're feeling tired, we can take a break, and we can get a jumpstart in the morning."

"If you're sure."

"Yeah. I'm feeling kind of tired, too."

Ed smiled.

"Okay."

He stacked the notes one on top of the other, and placed them on the workstation in the corner. He pulled off his vest and suspenders, and threw his unbuttoned shirt onto a chair by the window. He stretched before finally climbing under the covers of his bed. Al had gone into the bathroom, and had finally emerged when Ed's head fell to his pillow. Al, who, in the old days, usually fell asleep before Ed, nodded off moments after he pulled back the covers.

Ed, on the other hand, couldn't find it in him to let himself fall asleep. His head was spinning too much. Despite what he had learned from the notes, and the fact he new he was capable of the things mentioned in them, he felt utterly clueless. His thoughts were running through his head like rats in a maze. Without knowing it, he had slowly drifted out of consciousness.

The next morning, the boys got dressed, and started on their reading once again. They must have read and then re-read those notes dozens of times. Finally, Al let out an exasperated sigh.

"We need new reading material, Ed. It isn't helping us a whole lot just reading this."

Ed stood up.

"Let's go into town. We need to get something in our stomachs, anyway."

Al's stomach growled rather loudly, causing both brothers to laugh.

Without needing further persuasion, both boys put on their overcoats and went downstairs, where they were greeted by Jean.

"Where are you two off to?" he asked, pulling his cigarette out of his mouth.

"We're going to the public library to get some books. We're also getting breakfast. We'll probably be back before noon."

Jean took another drag from his cigarette.

"Hurry back. Lunch is at one o'clock."

"Okay. See you later."

The older Elric shut the door behind them. As they walked, Ed went through their plan with Al.

"Okay, once we get this figured out, we go after the bomb. While we're conducting our research, we'll need to get used to going to bed in the day, and waking up at night."

"Being nocturnal," said Al.

"Exactly."

"What are we going to do once we have the bomb?"

"For once in our lives, Al, we can figure that out once we have it."

They finally found their objective: The Berlin Library. Once inside, they spoke to the attendant at the front desk, A tall man with thinning hair and a bushy mustache.

"Excuse me, sir," said Ed, "where can I find books pertaining to science? I'm looking for materials on something in particular."

"If you tell me exactly what you're looking for, I could help you find it."

"No. I'd just like to take a look at the science section."

"Very well," said the attendant. He pointed his thumb behind him. "The entire back of the library pertains to science and sorcery. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thanks," said Ed.

Al followed him to the back, and they rummaged through the shelves looking for anything to do with alchemy. Ed pulled down dozens of books, and Al pulled out two or three. When he saw the ton that Ed had taken, his eyes widened.

"Do we really need that many?"

"Too much is never enough, Al," he said.

With his arms under great stress, he waddled to the counter where the librarian stood.

"I'll take all of these," said Ed.

"My word," said the librarian. "You need not take all of these at once, sir."

"Well, if I just take a few, then one might not be available when I need it."

The librarian snapped his fingers.

"Would you like to try the new checkout system, sir?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's something our sister library in Munich is currently trying. Instead of taking multitudes of books, we can place them in the back room, and put them on reserve. Then, when you turn your books in, you can get some more."

Ed thought this over, and then nodded.

"Yeah. Why don't we do that?"

The librarian smiled and nodded.

"Just take the books you'd like to use now, and I'll put the rest in the back room."

Ed took the books that he needed most from the top of the pile.

"Thanks. I'll be back later."

"Have a nice day, young sirs," said the librarian.

After they left the library, Alphonse's stomach growled again.

"You said we were going to get breakfast, right? Well, what are we going to do?"

Ed stopped dead.

"Oh, crap," he said.

"What is it?"

"Something I forgot to mention to you. This world… particularly in Germany… I guess it's in a state of what they call 'depression.'"

"Okay, I feel pretty stupid. I don't know what that means."

"Don't worry. I didn't either, when I first came here. It means that the value of money has gone down, and as a result, prices on goods skyrocket."

"Ouch."

"So, from now on, we're going to have to ration our food."

"I can manage that. I was used to eating small portions when I was on my search for you."

"Good."

As they walked down the street, they found a café. They went inside and took a seat.

"There's something here you've got to try, Al," said Ed.

"What is it?"

"I'll surprise you."

A lady came from the kitchen to take their orders.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"We'd like two apfelstrudels, and two cups of tea."

She bowed and walked back to the kitchen.

"What's an apfelstrudel?" asked Al.

"It's a layered pastry with a filling inside it. It's called an apfelstrudel because it has apple flavoring."

"Sounds really good," said Al.

They waited for about a half hour before their strudels and tea came.

"Thank you," said Ed.

"Enjoy," said the lady.

Al took a small bite off of his strudel, and was instantly astonished.

"Good, isn't it?" said Ed.

"Good? Wonderful? Otherworldly? I don't know."

Ed chuckled. He chowed down on his strudel while Al took small bites from his.

"Al, why are you taking such small bites? I didn't mean you had to ration the rations."

"But you said-"

"I bought us enough of a breakfast; Small enough that it wouldn't empty our pockets, but big enough that we would be satisfied. You see?"

With that, Al took even bigger bites off of his strudel.

As soon as they were done, Ed paid their bill, and they headed back to their hotel. Instead of staying cooped up in their rooms, the two of them decided to take their notes into the lobby and work there. They decided that, since they shut everything else around them out when they're reading, anyway, there would be little point in making themselves scarcely visible.

That night, Ed and Al were getting ready to retire, when Jean stopped them.

"Boys. You two have been working really hard lately."

"How would you know?" asked Ed, sleep weighing down his voice.

"Well, I haven't seen what you guys have been doing, but I can just tell by your body language how exhausted you two must be."

"You going somewhere with this?" asked Ed.

"Tonight, that opera singer that you guys missed out on is coming back for a matinee. It's sort of a dinner theater kind of deal. I want to invite you guys to join me in watching the performance. And I won't take 'no' for an answer."

Ed sighed, but then he smiled.

"Okay, we'll come along."

"Good."

"When does the performance start?" asked Al.

Jean looked at the grandfather clock next to the front desk.

"In about half an hour. Why don't we go in, and get something to eat while we wait for the singer?"

The three of them gathered in the restaurant section of the inn. The restaurant held a stage with a small runway that extended from it.

"So, what is this singer like?" asked Ed, as they were eating some sausage.

"Well, she's twenty years old, and she's from Hungary. I've only heard her once, on a radio, but she had an excellent singing voice. She's also Jewish, and she's regularly harassed by the National Socialist German Workers' Party."

Ed pounded the table lightly.

"Damn them."

"She doesn't let it get to her, though."

Just as Ed finished off another bite, a man came onstage and spoke to the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you a musical prodigy. A soprano of high caliber at the age of a mere twenty years old. I give you… Gitta Alpár."

The audience applauded, and onto the stage stepped a young woman of about twenty years old. Indeed, Jean was right. She had a spectacular singing voice. That, however, was not what caught Ed's attention. She had long blonde hair, light blue eyes, and piercings on both ears. She looked almost exactly like…

"Winry…?"

To Be Continued…


	4. Letter to my Readers

Dear Readers,

How have you all been? I hope that you guys haven't been too worried about me.

I'll cut to the chase. I want to let you guys all know that I'm not dead, and that I fully intend to continue writing on . But I also want to apologize for you all, dearly, that I have not updated many of my fics in so long. I have just been so terribly busy with a ton of things going on with my life. I have just now finished with a particularly exhausting semester in college. I am going a journalism program, which requires me to take four pre-requisite classes. I only took one pre-req last year, but I made the stupid mistake of taking two this semester, which, frankly, I think I should have taken in separate semesters. The class that got at me the most was my reporting, which kept me up until five o'clock in the morning working on its assignments at least five times. And the bad part is, I still didn't finish with anything higher than a C in that class. Add that to the fact that I spent most of that semester looking for a job close to campus that would pay well, and trying to get whatever relaxation out of it that I could, which wasn't much. However, the good thing is that I will have a semester coming up with a less hectic schedule, where I will only have one class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm hoping that the freed-up schedule will allow me to work more on my fanfictions, help my good friend and confidant Dartz the Fire Demon with his, and allow me to work on my book ideas without having too much interference from work, school, and/or recreation.

I should let you guys also know that a lot of things have happened since I've been in college that may have an effect on some of the stories that I write. You can decide whether or not they are good. When I got into college, I joined their anime club, and got on a huge anime and video game kick, even bigger than when I was in high school. So, I started watching a lot of anime that I had never seen before, in addition to watching anime that I had seen back in my younger days. Some of the anime that I got hooked on/introduced to were Ghost Stories, Soul Eater, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Dragon Ball, Mobile Suit Gundam, Gurren Lagann, Azumanga Daioh, and quite a few others. I also watched such oldies as the classic Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Monster Rancher, The Big O, and again, quite a few others. Close to X-mas vacation, I got traumatized by watching Elfen Lied, which, I can appreciate now, but for some reason, really scares me on some levels, and was somewhat depressing for me, too. I also got to experience attending a convention for the first time in my life. I went to Sakura-Con as Zero from Code Geass and met quite a few voice actors, including Michael Sinterniklaas, the voice actor for the Dark Magician, who was kind enough to sign all three of my deck copies. The trip was very fun for me, and it has given me a greater ambition to be a writer, and to pursue my dream of becoming a professional voice actor. After I got done with that year, over the summer, I got into some really good shows and games. I bought and watched the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I began to play the Assassin's Creed video games, which, for not being an RPG, are pretty freakin' cool! And I also got into one of the most beautifully-done RPG's I've ever seen: Eternal Sonata. In addition, my roommate from last year got me interested in some other games, including the Star Ocean games, and the Tales video games by Namco Bandai.

I know I'm droning, but all of this stuff has a point, I promise. I want to tell you guys my plans for the future of my stories. The updates will be gradual, but since I can't give you guys an actual update right now, I want to tell you what you can expect to happen with my stories in the future.

I'll go ahead and list each of my stories now and my plans for each.

My Kingdom Hearts Adventures – As this was the very first fanfiction I've ever done, I'll tell you my plans for this one first. I am not all to satisfied with how this one turned out. I won't take it down completely, but I am going to re-do a lot of the content with a whole new cast of characters, and re-do the dialogue quite a bit different. You can expect this fic to be good. It'll be all about the characters who represent me and my friends, and how we help Sora through all the worlds of the series. Once we have finished with the Kingdom Hearts storyline, my characters will start going to different worlds to make the fic more interesting. They will go back into the past and visit each of the Final Fantasy worlds, and many other worlds that are the product of Square-Enix. And since these two anime are Square-Enix, I will also have my characters and Sora and the gang visit Death City, the place where Soul Eater mainly takes place, and Amestris, the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. After that, you can expect the characters in the story to visit many other worlds, including plenty of non-Disney, non-Square-Enix worlds, such as the worlds of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the world of Eternal Sonata, and if you guys are at all interested, possibly a few comic book worlds. Eventually, the story will get to the point where pretty much every beloved fictional character you can think of will have interacted with the gang and with each other. My point is, since the point of Kingdom Hearts was that you could go to just about any universe and have fun, I've decided to greatly expand on that. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I do writing it.

Code: Insomnia – This story has had a lot of ups and downs, and it's one of the favorites of mine that I've written. I wrote this one when I was going through kind of a rough time in my life and a Code Lyoko kick at the same time. I want you guys to know that this will probably be one of the first stories that I update. I'm considering doing re-vamps on the story. But you guys can tell me if you think it needs re-vamped or not. If not, I'll keep it the way it is. I might update it with two or three more chapters and be done with the story. Might be more. Who knows? But I can assure you that they will be long chapters. And don't you worry about the couples in this story. They will be going strong by the end.

The Fullmetal Titan – This story is probably my greatest success, because at the time, there were very few, if any, Fullmetal Alchemist x Teen Titan cross-overs. I can assure you that I will be continuing this bigtime, but I just need to figure out how the plot will go. It may be a while before you see an update. I don't intend for the story to go on particularly long, as most of the stuff that happens to Ed and Al are best left in the world of Amestris. However, after I'm done with this, you could possibly expect a sequel. Only instead of Fullmetal Alchemist, you will see the Teen Titans team up with the students of the DWMA from Soul Eater.

Code: House – I may end up discontinuing this or putting it up for adoption. I don't know what I was doing with it, but I think at the time, my Code Lyoko kick and my House kick kinda crashed into each other. There have been some requests to adopt this, and I may just take you up on it, but let me get some things figured out with it first, and I'll let you know what I decide.

Keitaro Urashima: Burn Notice – I'm going to be totally honest. I came up with this because I was just frustrated as heck with Love Hina's storyline. I have never felt more sorry for a main character in an anime in my entire life. Well, unless you count the main character of Elfen Lied, but she doesn't get knocked around and called a pervert for things that she does by accident. (And if she did, the poor soul who did that would die a very painful death.) So, since I was on a huge Burn Notice kick at the time, I figured, how many other ways are there that could make Keitaro a badass? So, I decided to do this. I'm going to do some re-structuring of this story, and maybe catch up on Burn Notice in order to get a clearer idea of how I want this story to advance. In any case, you'll probably see an update in Fullmetal Titan sooner than an update for this one.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Second World War – I was on a huge History high when I started writing this. I thought it might be fun to continue Fullmetal Alchemist's story where the original 2003 series left off. In order to do this one, I'm going to need massive amounts of history in my head, so this will probably be updated latest of all, but be assured I still plan to continue it.

So, that's all for current ones, but I did come up with a few new story ideas that I plan to work on. Sometimes a guy needs to start something new in order to get the creative juices flowing so that he can work on the stuff he already has. So, here are my plans for future stories.

Unnamed Harry Potter Story – This is a story that will take place between Harry's fifth and sixth years at Hogwarts. He, and his friends take a trip to America for a "summer semester" at an American wizard and witch school, where they meet an American version of their DA. You can expect to see a lot of action in this one, as Harry and his new American friends will be fighting muggle criminals as well as dark wizards. You can also expect a lot of hilarity involving a younger kid with a crush on Hermione.

Assassin's Creed: Elf Song – This fic will be a cross-over of Assassin's Creed and Elfen Lied. The basic plot will be that Kaede's lifetime will be altered quite a bit. Before she can become the psychotic killer that she's made to be in the series, she will be adopted by a member of the Brotherhood of Assassins. And when her new father is put in danger, she will have to learn the ways of the Assassins. I won't spoil too much of the story for you, but you can expect to see a lot of the bad things that happened in Elfen Lied rectified, and I'm hoping you'll get to see plenty of our two favorite Assassins: Altair ibn-La'Ahad, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze. I realize that this will deviate greatly from Elfen Lied's plotline, but I think you should all understand that when I saw Elfen Lied, the first few episodes scared me so much that I could hardly sleep. I swore off of it until my curiosity overwhelmed me so much that I went ahead and finished the series, only to find it one of the most depressing anime I've ever seen. I hated seeing all the bad things in the series happen to characters that didn't really deserve them. I guess you could say that my writing this story is so that I might be better able to handle the series, and the way I've got it thought out, you can expect a pretty interesting cross.

Unnamed Code Lyoko x Eternal Sonata fanfiction – I haven't totally figured out what I'll do with this, or how it'll happen, but I just thought that Code Lyoko and Eternal Sonata would make an interesting cross. Of course, based on my experience with Code Lyoko fanfictions, very few franchises work very well for a cross, but I'd be interested to hear what you think of this idea.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Fic – This story will take place post-Yu-Gi-Oh! The original series. My intent is to have Yugi come on a show and be interviewed by sports reporters, as Duel Monsters is becoming more and more widely recognized as a sport. Yugi will answer general questions, including, what I think, would be his plans for after the series and before GX. I originally meant for this story to be a celebration of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s tenth anniversary. But this will be a little late, so I will wish Yu-Gi-Oh! a happy belated anniversary when I post it.

In addition to all of these, I have recently come up with a few real world ventures. I still have my book series to finish. I'd like to publish it when I finish, but I think that publishers will be more apt to publish a series than a single book. And I'm thinking three will be the magic number. As soon as I finish with my first book ideas, I'd like to move on to some other ideas I've come up with. I'll also be spending a lot of my time writing a screenplay for a movie idea that I came up with for me and my closest friends to make and act in. I hope that you are all entertained with the stories that I crank out, and I want to apologize once again for not having updated in a while.

I hope that this is not becoming too repetitive – me posting messages on my stories to tell you all about my situation. It's just easier than typing up individual messages. I will not make a habit of going this long without doing anything with my fanfiction account. I encourage you all to comment or message me with any advice, pointers or ideas you might have.

Your obedient servant,

Cdc100


End file.
